Philippians 3:8–12 – 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the
excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on,
that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
What is the most important possession you have? What is it you could not
live without?
Paul writes “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the
knowledge of Christ.” Paul knew what it was to have the things of this world
and he knew what it was to have Christ in his life.
Paul was willing not only to give up everything he owned in this life, he was
willing to give his very life for his relationship with Christ. He was willing to
die for Christ!
Paul is not talking about giving up everything for a religion but for a
relationship, a relationship with God.
I ask myself, what am I willing to lose for Christ? Is there anything I could
lose that would take me away from God? Can I be so focused on anything
that Christ would be second in my life. Can I make the statement as Paul did
in verse 10, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and
the fellowship of His sufferings. Being conformed to His death.”
Attitude is everything when it comes to knowing Christ! That is if you take
this definition of attitude; “attitude is the way we think.” Our relationship
with Jesus changes the way we think. Can we be a follower of Christ? In
today’s world many are following a false messiah. They base their hope in
God based on worldly ideas and ideals. The values of the world take
precedence over the Word of God. The false prophets preach if you do not
have the worldly possession then God is not at work in your life.
The only possession we need is God. Paul’s goal was to know Christ and the
power of His resurrection. Paul knew while he was on this earth God has a
calling in his life. He was to keep on keeping on. He was never to take his
eyes, his focus off God. We too are to be like Paul in this…never ever, never
ever forget God. Always remember God loves you and has a great and
wonderful plan for your life. The plan is not the riches of this world. It is
having the riches of Christ live in you in this world. We will never be perfect
in this life. There will be people of imperfection all around us. We are to love
God and in loving God love others.